Site of Lacy's Fort
Alto, Cherokee County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Built before 1835 as a home and trading post by Martin Lacy, Indian agent for the Mexican government. Used as a place of refuge after the massacre of the Killough family, October 5, 1838. Erected by the State of Texas 1936
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Before 1835, Martin Lacy—an Indian agent for the Mexican government—built this home and trading post on the East Texas frontier. When the Killough family was attacked on October 5, 1838, in what became known as one of the largest such incidents in the region, settlers fled to Lacy's Fort for refuge amid the turmoil between Anglo colonists and Native peoples during the young Republic of Texas.
Why it matters
The site marks the volatile borderland where Mexican-era trade, Anglo settlement, and Native resistance collided in the founding years of the Texas Republic.
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Related people
- · Martin Lacy
Related events
- · Killough Massacre
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Chief Bowles' Last Homesite
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In 1836 Sam Houston negotiated a treaty recognizing the Cherokees' right to the East Texas lands they occupied, where their leading figure was Duwali — known also as Bowl or Chief Bowles. But after the Texas Revolution the Senate of the new Republic voided the treaty, and in 1839 President Mirabeau B. Lamar ordered the Cherokee expelled. Learning of the order near this site, Bowles rallied his people to resist and was killed at the Battle of the Neches on July 16, 1839.
Ellis P. Bean
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Named for early Nacogdoches settler Joseph T. Cook, this site grew up around a frontier fort built by a military company under Captain Black—a stronghold, the marker notes, that was never attacked. James Cook added a store and blacksmith shop, and a village of some 250 people had gathered here by 1846. After the county seat was established at nearby Rusk, the residents moved away and the settlement faded.
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